Promotion officials announced the news on Saturday, also confirming
Gabriel
Gonzaga’s participation in the event as a replacement for the
injured Rob
Broughton. Funch will meet veteran Mike Pyle,
while Prater (Pictured) is slated to face Jungle Fight champion
Erick
Silva.

Headlined by a featherweight title confrontation between champion
Jose
Aldo and challenger Chad Mendes,
the Jan. 14 event will emanate from HSBC Arena in Rio de Janeiro.
Scheduled to air live on pay-per-view in the United States, the
event will also showcase a middleweight matchup between Vitor
Belfort and Anthony
Johnson in the co-headliner.

A two-time UFC veteran, Funch will make his Octagon return after
more than a year away from the world’s largest MMA promotion.
Following back-to-back UFC defeats at the hands of Johny
Hendricks in December 2009 and Claude
Patrick in June of the following year, Funch took an extended
break from competition before returning to the cage earlier this
month to best Ryan Quinn by
unanimous decision.